Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Self Planned Three Weeks Trip to Europe - Packing for 24 days (My Take)

Travelling to Europe for 24 days gives a feeling that my luggage would be of such dimension that it utilises full 23 Kg checked baggage limit. allowed by Airlines. After all, 24 days is a long time, Europe is still not warm, it is still cold (not the freezing one) and weather can be uncertain.

It would have been true in the normal traveler. The case with me is different, I am a minimalist  person who likes to carry bare minimum stuff. Most of my life in the Indian Navy, I have done many tours (what we call them is "Ty Duty" or Temporary Duty) and I have always traveled  minimum luggage. The beauty is, from the minimum luggage that I carried, one odd item of dressing came back unused.

In any case, Europe trip is self planned. Unlike in a trip with travel company where the bus and luggage van waits for the travelers at the airport or bus station, we are on our ow, finding our way to B & B or Hotel using Public transport, etc. It is a reason enough to carry least amount (in terms of items in general and weight in particular) of luggage as it is us who have to lug it every where.

My traveler (small suitcase) that I have packed weighs less than 15 kg (actually it weighs less today, but I anticipate addition of some more weight to reach that weight). Shocked or Dismayed that this man will have to shop in Europe and spend Euros? Disbelief? Come out of it.

With the packing list that I am giving as under, I would not only travel but travel with comfort and complete my trip successfully (a fact that can be confirmed only after I return from the trip). Well, that means, washing some of the cloths (particularly T's) as and when required.

Here is the List:-

Cloths

T Shirts / Shirts - 7 (6 packed, one to be worn)
Trousers - 4 (including two jeans, 3 packed)
Under Garments - 6 sets
Towel 1 (soft and thin and ultra light weight, Pure cotton one, called Rajapuri Pancha in Maharashtra, very similar to A big long Gamcha used in North India)
Socks - 4 pairs including one to be worn
Hand Kerchief - 4
Half Sweater - 1
Full Sweater - 1
Jacket -1

Accessories

Shaving Kit
Deo
Tooth Paste and Tooth Brush
One Cloth Drying String (rubber one with end hooks)
One Swiss Knife set
One small Water Heater (just four inch long)
Teabags 100 (Hindustani Chai ke bina Kaise Jiyega?)
Essential Medication
One small Torch
Water Bottle
Playing Cards (Never Played but no harm trying)
Sun Glasses

Most of the clothing items are packed in Packing Cubes. It is the first time we are using Packing cubes and hope we find them useful.

Documents

Print Outs of B & B / Hotel Booking, tickets for travel and visit.
Passport
Copies of Passport with visa page
Travel Insurance Paper

Forex 

Forex Card
Forex cash


Electronic Items (mostly in Hand Baggage)

Canon EOS DSLR
DSLR Tripod ( I am not carrying it as I am getting one at Paris from Our son but it is recommended to carry it)
Battery pack
Mobile Charger(s)
Headphone(s)
Samsung Tab
Transfer Cable (for transferring photos from Memory card to Tab)
Card Reader

 I think that makes all that I have packed. Will this be good enough for the trip? Wait for my feedback. Did I miss anything? Not Sure.

Happy Packing in future to all those who read this blog


Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Self Planned Three Weeks Trip to Europe - Bookings - Intercity Transport

So far, I have posted three parts of the whole planning process. The links for all these part are as follows:-

Part 1 - http://harshad-datar.blogspot.in/2018/03/self-planned-three-weeks-trip-to-europe.html

Part 2 - http://harshad-datar.blogspot.in/2018/03/self-planned-three-weeks-trip-to-europe_21.html

Part 3 - http://harshad-datar.blogspot.in/2018/04/self-planned-three-weeks-trip-to-europe.html

In these parts, planning, Air Ticket booking and booking of accommodation have been covered. In this current blog I would discuss the booking of Intercity transport between cities being visited. Most of our intercity travel is going to be using the public transport. However, twice or three times, we are going to drive taking car on hire.

All cities in Europe are well connected through all three mediums, Air, Rail and Road. It may so happen,  in very few cases, where there is no rail connection (we encountered such situation while looking for options between Prague and Budapest) but that is an exception.

There are large number of websites  in the cyber space who provide booking services. Some are specialist for a particular mode but generally most of them provide information about all available options and help one book any of the mode.

And the choice is nearly unlimited, particularly between major destinations. It will be possible to chose the mode  and time of your choice. Needless to say, Air travel is generally the costliest. Interestingly, we found that sometimes between some destinations, bus travel was cheaper and faster than train (because of one or two changes during train trips).

It would be a thrill to travel on high speed DB (German railway trains), ICE, TGV or similar trains. There are other independent services which run intercity in Germany (one such service is Loco more)
Buses are also aplenty and multiple companies offer services. I am told their bus services are also very comfortable.

Here is the screen shot of one such service


 This task of booking for travel between cities in Europe is a easy one. One can pick up mode as per his / her liking, departure requirements and also cost. See below to realize that we did this whole booking ourselves very easily.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intercity Depart Number
From AT To At
Paris (Bercy Seine) 1600     Ghent, Dampoort 2005  Connection 803
BUS

Ghent, Dampoort 0555 Amsterdam Sloterdijk 0930 Connection N814
BUS
Amsterdam Centraal 1632    Köln Hbf 2022       ICE 159
Train
Road Trip Cologne  Koblanz Car Hire
Road Trip Koblanz Frankfurt Car Hire
Frankfurt (Main) Süd station Train 0829 Berlin Ostbahnhof (train) 1316  Connection LOC  1818/K213
(train) Loco More
Road Trip Berlin  Dresden
Dresden Hbf 1122 Praha hl.n. 1335  EC173
Train
Praha, ÚAN Florenc 0700 Budapest, Népliget aut.áll 1430 ELB8801
Euroline
Bus
Budapest, Hungary - TERMINAL 2A 0620 Mumbai 0005/12 May Air France Flight
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With this blog post, the series on Self Planned travel to Europe is complete. We are making a longish trip. One can make a shorter trip. Go ahead, pack and travel. The Education travel gives is priceless.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Self Planned Three Weeks Trip to Europe - Bookings - Accommodation

Link to Two previous Parts

Part I - http://harshad-datar.blogspot.in/2018/03/self-planned-three-weeks-trip-to-europe.html

Part II - http://harshad-datar.blogspot.in/2018/03/self-planned-three-weeks-trip-to-europe_21.html

Part III

Booking Accommodation.

We have planned the trip. We also booked Air Ticket. Now is the time to look at where to stay.

Looking for Accommodation at travel destination is a Herculean task. Where to stay, in the city center or away, in B & B or Hotel or should we stay in hostel (and there are plenty of them around). City center saves time of travel but may cost more money while staying away may save cost but travel time (every day one has to travel) increases greatly.

Finally it has to be a compromise between cost and time. Being in city center also means being in the midst of the life and also the night life (don’t be surprised if a young person like me talks of Night life, why not, life is to be enjoyed to the fullest irrespective of the age). One can devote more time even till late into the night without hassle of worrying about subway timings, safety during travel etc.

See the rates of Accor Hotels at Berlin. Though distance is not the only criteria, type of hotel and Star rating also matters. However comparison below is for similar class of hotels of same group.

HOTELS MATCH YOUR SEARCH
LAST CONSULTED HOTEL
Ibis Styles Berlin Alexanderplatz3
 0.9 km from centre
1276 Reviews
4/5  Breakfast included Members' rate: -5%
From 5538  5261Price for 1 person for 1 night
Select
 Rate calendar
Novotel Berlin Mitte
  0.8 km from centre 3026 Reviews 4/5  Members' rate: -5%
From 6903   6558 Price for 1 person for 1 night
Select
 Rate calendar
Similarly, most other online booking sites may show distance from city center in their listings. The hotel accommodations are for two or three people per room. In case of B & Bs, depending on its size, it could accommodate 2 people to about 8 people (going abroad in larger group must be fun, We could not find any like minded couples hence we decided to go with the best company, we two for each other).

Many B & Bs, particularly the city center ones in almost all the countries are in old historic buildings and generally on higher floors. Some people may say, so what, there is always a lift in multi story buildings. True but not True! In these historic buildings, there are only staircases and no lift (and the description of the B & B would always say so upfront). The staircases may have tall stairs or in some places they have narrow winding cast iron staircases like in old period films.

This could be a limitation for some people who cannot climb stairs. In turn one may have to let go of some of the fabulous B & Bs because they don’t have a Lift. Most City Center  B & Bs and even some hotels in the city centers have parking problem. Public parking may be available near by but city center parking cost a lot (applicable to those who undertake the self-driven car trips and there are many of us who do it).

Another thing worth indicating is, many a b & Bs having multiple rooms in an old house have shared bathrooms and toilets (may be a bathroom and a toilet). For that matter, most hostels, otherwise a very cost effective and happening accommodation option also have common toilets and baths unless one books a room with attached toilet in these hostels. Some of the hostels, bang in to city center may not have such rooms or they may be occupied on the day of your travel.

Hotels do not have both these problems and some hotels are also bang in the center of the towns but then hotel is a hotel with all the standard comfort but it does not give you opportunity to interact with locals (you B & B hosts). Then there are issues of costs also.

The accommodation booking is therefore a task of perseverance. Keep searching accommodation on various internet sites, whichever ones are liked are to be shortlisted. Finally the shortlist will narrow down to one or two per city based on various requirements an individual has and facilities they offer. Finally a accommodation per city gets selected and then the booking has to be done.  Most sites accept payment in INR.

While we are in the process of shortlisting, sometimes the accommodation you have liked becomes not available  for the dates of your travel. Then what to do? Nothing just move over and book your second choice.

Our search for accommodation took us through all these steps and we also had some disappointments where short listed accommodation either did not have lift or it became not-available on our selected days.

As for payment, Some websites need immediate payment to be done, some offer booking without payment and payment is made either closer rt arrival date or at the reception. Some have liberal cancellation and some are strict in cancellation.

Finally, we completed our bookings. In all we have booked B & Bs at six places, hostel in one place and hotels in three places.

In my next blog post, I will talk about internal transport selection and booking.